Jesus, the commander of the Lord's army

In Sunday school this week we looked at the same passage Esther spoke on and we were intrigued by this figure….

13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, ‘Are you for us or for our enemies?’
14 ‘Neither,’ he replied, ‘but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.’ Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, ‘What message does my Lord have for his servant?’
15 The commander of the Lord’s army replied, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.’ And Joshua did so.

I explained that most commentators and myself see this as JESUS. What struck me is that many of us come to Jesus like Joshua hoping that Jesus will be on our side and fit him into our plans but what this passage tells us is that being a Christian is acknowledging Jesus is the Lord, the commander and we bow down and follow/obey his will – even if it messes up our plans and ambitions. That is why Paul says salvation is not a choice but a command (Acts 17:30). We talked about how this is why we pray and have been praying ‘Your Kingdom Come’. As you have prayed this over the last week I wonder what commands, strategies, plans the Lord has laid on your heart? What is the Lord asking of you? I would love to hear. And maybe you have heard something that the Lord might be asking of us as a church. Please do share with us as faith leaders so we can pray and weigh it up? We will be looking at all the prayers and comments people have left or will leave in our ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ prayer space at church. Do try and get down if you can.

We also discussed that it is at baptism that we confess Jesus as our Lord and commander and declare we are following Him. As we are baptized we may not know all that the Lord has asked or will ask of us but we choose to trust and obey Him. It was great to have 3 baptisms the other week and I am delighted to say that we have another one planned for June 30th. If you or someone you know of us is considering being baptized do get them to speak to Esther or myself.

We have lots of things coming up as a church, and we believe they are all part of the Lord’s strategy for us to reach out to others and so do pray who can you invite and how you can get involved in the following. In particular do let me know a.s.a.p. if you can volunteer at any of the events we are running.

This Sunday 9th June 10:30am – Pentecost Sunday including covenant renewal followed by church family picnic

Monday 10th June 1:30pm Start of the holiday at home, afternoon tea in the Living Room

Wednesday June 12th 10:30am Holiday at home – Tour of Israel with Chris and Lindy Hill including performance of school band.

Friday June 14th 10:30am Holiday at home at Crowmarsh Village Hall with Crowmarsh pre-school followed by lunch at Howbery Park.

Wednesday June 19th and Thursday 27th June 9am to 1pm – Year 6 transition events at Church

Sunday July 7th 10:30am – Joint CAP service at Wallingford School

Monday July 8th to Friday July 12th Wallingford School Prayer Space

And then of course Holiday Club and Bunkfest in the school holidays.

Above all, pray for all the above!

Thank you for your partnership in the gospel and lets continue to ‘fix our eyes on Jesus’ and follow him together.